Author name: Jenny Nicole

Parenting Style Probably Sucks
Child Monitoring, Tips

4 Signs that Your Parenting Style Probably Sucks

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We get a lot of parents that write to us about their problematic children, and we give them the best advice we possibly can about how XNSPY can help them with their woes. But today I came to wonder; have parents ever stopped to think if they might be the problem? If their kid is acting out and being troublesome, perhaps it is not their fault. Perhaps it is the outcome of a parenting style that quite frankly, well… sucks. When You Have No Ground Rules The first sign of a bad parent is one who does not set any ground rules for the kids. It is nice to have a free forming, spontaneous relationship with your kids. This way the two of you can grow and evolve together. However, you must have some dos and don’ts for your household about certain things; defined parameters so to speak. They can be pretty basic—no leaving the house past 8, going to bed by 9, no smartphones at the table.  If you’ve never laid down a few simple rules that guide your child’s life, you’re not doing parenting right. When You Just Can’t Say “No” Parents that just can’t say “no” to their kids are not doing them any favors. There are lots of studies that have proven that spoiled kids grow up to be rather unhappy adults. Imagine getting every single wish fulfilled while you were younger. Then leaving the nest and realizing that life simply is not that easy. That they’ve got to work for what they want, and often they would meet failure. Because they have never been told “no” in the past, they are not properly equipped to deal with failure, or coping when things don’t go their way. When Your Child Bothers You On Purpose This is a really interesting tip from Cure Joy: Children need physical affection. It is in fact beneficial in their formative years. Positive Parenting describes this phenomenon as the power of touch, something that they claim helps in disciplining a child as well. When You Can’t Help But Yell Here is yet another tidbit from Cure Joy: Does this look familiar to one of our most common themes on this blog? This relates to bullying. And this is something we never thought of before. But one of the reasons why your child is being bullied at school could be that they never learnt to stand up for themselves. This could have been because you are prone to yelling at them in public. This is a humiliating experience for any child because it degrades them in front of their peers. Sure it makes you feel like bigger and more powerful than them for a few minutes, but you don’t realize the lasting impact you have on their personalities. If you find yourself adopting some of these styles, it is time to reevaluate your parenting techniques. More often than not it is the kids themselves that tell you when something in your parenting isn’t going right. It may not be in words, but it may be through troublesome actions. As the parent, you need to pick up on these signs and improve yourself while you still can. Read More: XNSPY Helped Me Build Trust With My Child Someone Stole My Phone but XNSPY Location Tracker Helped Me Get it Back Parents Who Never Understood Kik Don’t Have To With XNSPY

Oversharing on the Internet
Social Media, Tips

You’re Oversharing on the Internet and You Don’t Even Know It

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You enter a restaurant with your friends. You fling out your phone. Facebook: Check in with Sara, Elizabeth, Tiana and Lindsay. Instagram: Upload picture of your food before you even eat it. Twitter: Lunch with friends! #salad #eatinghealthy #girlsday Point is we love telling our friends what we’re doing every minute of every day. I guess I’m guilty of that, too. But what you’ve essentially done is trace out every minute detail of your day out there on the internet for everyone to know. So where do you draw the line between sharing and… oversharing? What is Oversharing, Anyway? Let Randi Zuckerberg, sister of Facebook CEO explain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKwIaBrKtsk Like Zuckerberg mentions, people don’t realize that they’re leaving an online footprint when they post every detail of their lives on the internet. The Oversharing Danger Here is the story of two women who paid heavily for oversharing online. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm3VInFjhlY Lesson learnt: you never know who is looking at your profile or your Twitter feed. Or the fact that oversharing could lead to identity theft. Is Oversharing All Bad? Well… technically, yes. But the people at Cracked have a few interesting things to say that argue otherwise. But let’s face it, the immediate dangers that come with oversharing seem more threatening (maybe because they affect you directly) than the long term benefits. Are You an Oversharer? You might not even realize you’re giving out too much on social media. So how can you know when to stop? Maybe this video could help. See what I meant? For you, things might be as simple as updating a status or posting a funny video of your child on YouTube, but for a predator, it’s more information about you! I’m not saying you need to stop using Facebook or delete all your Instagram photos right away. All I’m saying is to think before you Tweet. And remember the golden rule: less is more. So after reading all of this, did you find yourself guilty of oversharing? Where do you think you need to draw the line?  

Inspire Your Children
Child Monitoring, Tips

How to Inspire Your Children to Be Whatever They Want to Be

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From the moment our kids are born, we tend to place them in pigeonholes. We tend to expect them to behave in a way that is socially desirable, we tend to want them to dress the way we consider normal and we want them to aspire to careers that sound good to you. A lot of it is unintentionally so… we’re just wired to find some things acceptable and other things undesirable. So we create these pigeonholes—be it gender roles, or confinements presented by the education system. But in doing so, we bury their imaginations and their latent talents in favor of ones that fit in society. We’re saying you need to empower your kids. Inspire them so that they can grow up to become whoever they want to be. Their ambitions and imagination should not be confined by social constructs. There are a few things you can do to make this happen… Don’t Impose Your Ideas of Correctness Parents have been known to suppress their child’s freedom of expression in many ways. For example, when your child is younger, you teach them to color inside the lines or to color the way things are supposed to be. Grass is to be green. Sky is to be blue. Hair is to be blonde or brunette. Anything that does not abide by our understanding of the world is deemed wrong. A child’s imagination goes beyond all conventional understanding—do not be afraid of that. So what if they decide to color the hair on their drawing green? Don’t put a stopper on their creativity. Let Them Express Themselves through Clothes Let your children decide what they are going to wear—even when they are toddlers. Give them that freedom of expression they need to convey who they really are. That’s how they show their individuality. For example, you might think a cardigan and jeans are a sensible choice for your daughter to wear to school, but she might be more interested in wearing something that makes her stand out—something sparkly or unique. As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, what’s the harm in letting them be their own person through what they wear? Let Them Try Lots of Things Kids are fickle. When they are younger, they tend to go through lots of phases. They’d watch the latest Star Wars movie and then for a month they’d go through their sci-fi phase. They might read something cool about science and decide that they want to grow up to be a scientist… that is until they score a pretty impressive basket for their team and decide their true calling is actually in basketball. The point is, kids will try lots of different things and careers. They might find things they don’t like. They might find things they like. This is all part of self-discovery. Do not pressure them into choosing a singular path right away. The most important thing that you can do as a parent is to nurture their talents. Encourage their latest obsessions, regardless of how profitable its prospects may be career wise. Because if they truly have a passion for what they do, they will make a career out of it. And they’d fare way better than those that decided they need to go the sensible way and find themselves stuck in an office cubicle living a life without passion.

Office a Bullying-Free Zone
Employee Monitoring, Tips

How to Make Your Office a Bullying-Free Zone

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Bullying at the workplace is commonplace and it is probably happening right under your nose. Lots of managers aren’t aware of the level of stress their subordinates are under from their coworkers. It occurs in a lot of different ways. This includes: Verbal abuse Demeaning behavior Repeated humiliating jabs “Ganging up” on one person, i.e. group bullying Sabotaging one’s work These behaviors are commonly seen amongst coworkers in the workplace. But you’ll find that a lot of these times, a lot of bullying comes directly from your managers—people you have hired to watch over stuff. In that case, the bullying is strengthened by a power distance. A manager may: Single someone out to pick on Pile extra work on that person Be nitpicky about the quality of their work Point out every minute mistake Become verbally abusive Publically humiliate the subordinate Here is an infographic from Office Team that presents some stats on the matter: Now the question is, how do you as a manager or business owner make sure this does not occur in your workplace? How do you make your office a bully free zone? Here are a few things you should know: You can monitor workplace behavior, but you cannot mould someone’s personality To make sure you are hiring the right personalities, your recruitment process needs to be rigorous Make sure you repeatedly communicate a no-tolerance policy to all your staff when it comes to bullying You can monitor communications and make sure employees are abiding by it Make sure everyone knows the consequences of such behavior Set the precedent by making an example of the first bullying case your office encounters Hold meetings and seminars to educate your staff on the matter Here is some information on Anti-Workplace Bullying laws from HR Investigator: As the business owner or manager, you are responsible for setting the culture of your organization. You set the boundaries around which the staff operates. So make sure you develop a culture of mutual respect and integrity rather than one of overly cutthroat competition which leads to people bullying one another. You may be fooled to think that level of competition is good, but in actuality, it ends up harming your company and increasing your attrition rate.

Smartphones for Homework
Teenager Smartphones

Do Kids Really Use their Smartphones for “Homework”?

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Smartphones have become more than just phones. In fact, they are more “smart” in their nature because using them to call one another is now only a small part of why we use them. Now that kids are starting to get phones at increasingly younger ages, kids are exposed to a plethora of knowledge and information from the moment they are born. When they have access to this form of infinite knowledge from the get-go, they tend to become information-minded, trying to find out the answers to the hundreds of questions that pop up in their little heads throughout the day. But the question is to what extent are kids using their smartphones for homework? To what extent to they use it to add to their knowledge and not just fill it with fluff—likes on selfies, and getting more followers, and thinking of a suitable one-liner to go with a meme? Learning is Connected The truth is, in this time it is impossible for your child to learn and do their schoolwork without their devices. Kids use them to: Do research Read books online Read papers and additional information Watch tutorial videos Like we said earlier, knowledge on the internet is infinite. Kids often find themselves looking up one thing, which leads to them reading about another and so on. It’s called the Wikipedia effect. Here’s an infographic which shows how important learning on the go is: Accepting the Information Era Expecting kids to only use their smartphones for homework is unrealistic. They’ve got an entire world open to them through their screens and kids are little explorers. Let them discover that world on their own—learning doesn’t just have to be academic you know. It should be all around them. What you can do, however, is to use parental controls to make sure they are keeping on the right track and not visiting pages that are too inappropriate. (cakesprices.com) You can even make sure that their time on their smartphone is  distributed across learning, entertainment and leisure in a healthy manner.

Smartphones to Employees
Employee Monitoring

Should Your Company Be Providing Smartphones to Employees?

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There’s an ongoing debate which probably began when the personal devices started becoming more common. That debate is: should you be the one providing them with devices to use at work, or should you be following a BYOD policy? Let’s get one thing straight; technology is integral to employee empowerment. But either decision comes with its pros and cons. This infographic from Trustwave tells us about at the BYOD policy at a glance: The pros of having your employees bring their own devices are: Your employees will probably be more comfortable with them They might be more efficient with them It allows employee mobility You’re not responsible for the devices Obviously, there are a few cons as well: Monitoring personal devices is difficult Buying security or monitoring software for various devices is costly You can’t control all the functions they carry out on their own devices Your information can be at risk. So the other option is to give your employees company provided devices. This means that your employees can only use for office work the smartphones or tablets that you provide them. (ambien) Let’s start reviewing the pros by looking at this infographic from New Egg Business: So the pros are: It is easier to pre-install an employee monitoring app on them You can administer the activities conducted on them You know what company data is being transmitted Managing becomes more uniformed The cons of this option are: Employees may incur extra cost from personal usage The initial capital may be too high Security of the devices is your responsibility Risk of theft It would seem that from a company’s point of view, you’re in more control over information if you’re the one providing employees with their devices. It is just a safer way to protect your company’s data. So if you’ve been thinking about whether to administer a BYOD policy or not, we would say not seems more in your favor. But of course, make sure you review you own situation before you make the leap!

Child’s Trust
Child Monitoring

4 Ways to Earn Your Child’s Trust

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Parents often complain about how their kids don’t tell them anything. Even when parents can clearly tell that something is wrong with the child.  It is not uncommon for there to be a distance between a parent and a child. After all, you are the authority figure and the kid is bound to hate your guts at some point in time. Losing their trust altogether is not what you want. Because how else are you going to get through them and solve their problems if they don’t trust you enough? These are 4 ways in which you can build a mutual relationship based on trust with them… 1.     Be a Good Listener Parents love the sound of their own voice, don’t they? They love being the ones on the giving end of the lecture. But very seldom to they ever let their child do the talking. Think about yourself. How often have you let your child vent to you? How often have you given them a safe space to let out all that they are feeling without holding it against them? That’s just the problem here: your child thinks they can’t tell you anything because you will use it against them. That is what you have to stop. Allow them to say what is on their mind without interruption. And never use what they have said to punish them. 2.     Learn to Apologize You do not own your child. They will not obey you to a T, no matter how aggressively you have them follow rules at home. There will be times when you are wrong and they are the ones in the right. In cases like those, learn to apologize. Your kids need to learn from you by example. When they see that you accept your mistakes, they realize that you are human, too. And they also realize that your relationship can one of understanding. 3.     Become their Confidant Allow them a safe space to speak their minds. Gently ask them what is wrong and tell them that their secrets are safe with you and that they are here to help you. Become their confidant instead of having them look for other unhealthy outlets to let off steam. 4.     Know About their Life You can’t know what their problems are if you don’t know what is going on in their lives. One good way of finding out what they’ve got going on is through a mobile tracker app. From here, you can know where it is that the go, who they talk to and what they talk about. At the end of the day, you know what is happening in their lives so when you do talk to them, it doesn’t feel like you’re talking to a stranger.

Raising a Genius at Home
Teenager Smartphones

Signs That You Are Raising a Genius at Home

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Some children are just born with a gift. Their talent surpasses most other children of their age and they start showing potential of being extraordinary at a very young age. But such talent has to be nurtured. Often, parents do not understand what it is that makes their child different. If parents recognize those signs early on, they can help their children become someone great—someone who can make a difference. Learning Liftoff provides some insights into what to look for in a high achiever: An extraordinary child is… Driven and motivated Ready to go the extra mile to learn Quick in understanding complex concepts Independent … from a very early age. Now all of these sound like terrific qualities to have in a child, right? These are all the qualities that all parents wish to see in their children. They do, however, come with a few challenges of their own. Kids that have an intellect greater than that of their peers often seem rather aloof. This may be because they feel intellectually lonely. This could also mean that they do not find what they’re learning at school stimulating enough for their capabilities. As a result, they find that they can’t make friends, school bores them, and that they cannot exercise their full potential because they are simply not given the opportunity. So what to do when school is coming in the way of your child’s academic progress? If you’re lucky, your child’s school should have programs for gifted students that you could consider. Such programs give students more challenging assignments and homework that help them get the stimulation they are seeking most. These programs have quite a bit of outreach, which means that your child will meet other kids who have a higher intelligence than their peers as well. It is important, first of all, for a parent to realize that their child is gifted and that their talent needs to be nurtured. While this blog is talking about kids that show an extraordinary skill in academics, I think this can also apply to kids that showcase great talent in other fields as well—music, art, drama, sports and the like. Kids just need a little push before they realize they can do this on their own as well.

mobile monitoring
Cell Phone Tracking

How to monitor a cell phone?

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One of the things that many people want to know these days is how to monitor a cell phone. Considering the amount of anomalies and accidents taking place online, parents and employers want to ensure that their homes and businesses are safe from external digital intrusions, and smartphones are one way hackers can do that. To monitor someone’s cell phone, you will require a cell phone monitoring app. A cell phone monitoring phone’s essential task is to monitor and not to do the job of an antivirus, i.e. Not to prevent others from accessing your device. Instead, it does the exact opposite. It provides you access to devices that others are using, but are under your ownership. But instead of looking at it from a spying perspective, smartphone monitoring apps can be really helpful with knowing what others are up to, including your kids and employees. It makes sense—A LOT. Why? Because, the oblivious world that we live in, it’s full of dangers, especially cyber dangers. The best way to keep yourself safe from cyber threats is by ensuring nothing valuable resides inside your smartphone that’s not under encryption. A good way to do it would be to keep everything on cloud storage. But instructing your kids or employees to do that would only create trouble. Instead, a cell phone monitoring app like Xnspy can be used to keep tabs on the target persons’ mobile phone. With this app onto your kids’ or employees’ smartphones, you will know exactly what’s stored and shared with others through their phones. Cell phone monitoring—getting started The first that you need is a cell phone spy software like that from Xnspy. The app that you choose needs to be downloaded and installed onto the device that you want to monitor. For the best user-experience, features and pricing you should get XNSPY. It’s reliable, safe and provides easy-to-use interface. With an app residing onto a cell phone, it will be able to wirelessly upload data to the online control panel of your spy app. Try to use an app that’s non-intrusive. Make sure you are taking consent from the person that you want to monitor to avoid legal consequences. The next phase involves managing your monitored devices. It usually includes changing the settings of the devices that you are monitoring. For example, if you are using XNSPY, you can toggle on/off every individual feature that the app offers. Using the app you can also renew your license, change your profile picture (that will be visible only to you), or change your ID and password. The third step is to download the Dashboard app. Not all apps will provide you a smartphone app to manage your control panel, but if xnspy is what you are using, then you are surely in luck. Xnspy has a dedicate app for android users that you can install on your phone, so there will no more need for the online webpage-based control panel and you can monitor from anywhere, anytime. After doing the aforementioned, you will be able to monitor any smartphone. Just make sure get the spy app that’s compatible with your target cell phone.

Mistakes Every Manager Makes
Employee Monitoring

4 Common Mistakes Every Manager Makes

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If you’ve been wondering why your employees have nothing but resentment to offer you, it might be time to do a bit of reflective thinking. It’s a given that the manager won’t always be the most favorite person at the office. But if you’re slowly becoming the most hated to the point where it has started to effect productivity, there might be some things you are doing wrong. Let’s talk about some of the mistakes you might be making in your management style. Focusing on Weaknesses The first mistake that nearly every manager makes in their stint as a leader is focusing on their team’s weaknesses. It is natural for you, as a manager, to point out what an employee is doing wrong. It is after all part of your job to make the correct diagnosis in processes so you get the desired end result. However, you’ll find that if you turn your focus instead on the employee’s strengths, your team will be far more productive. This strength-not-weakness technique helps you find the dominant talent in every person in your office and helps them in developing and excelling in that. Thinking Time Equals Quality Managers always perceive those that burn the midnight oil as the better employee. Staying in late gives the impression that the employee is most dedicated to their work and try to do the best they can with the company’s goals. That’s not necessarily true. Those that like to sit in late may not be the best time managers. Perhaps they don’t like to work in teams and wait till the rest of the people are gone to get the work done. Perhaps they like to have more time on something than others. Perhaps they simply like being in the office. While all of these are not necessarily bad traits to have in an employee, these also do not also ensure quality. Do not equate time spent at the office to quality of work produced. Assigning Work That’s Too Challenging Have you heard of the Yerkes-Dodson Law? This is a law that talks about how arousal increases performance… but only up to a certain point. So how can managers use this information? Employees have better performance when their work is challenging—but not when it is too challenging. They have having brainteaser to work on and learn from and solve in order to get results, but not when it is too far above their intelligence. If it is beyond their capacity, they tend to become discouraged. And we all know that disengaged employees are poor performers. Overbearing Physical Monitoring A lot of managers think that by ensuring an overbearing physical presence, they are ensuring performance and productivity. And that is the biggest misconception for managers to have. While it is good for you to be around, it is never a good idea to breathe down your employee’s necks all the time. Workers, especially of this generation, like their me-time. And that in fact, makes them more productive than being micromanaged. Employee monitoring software is perhaps a smarter option.

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